Agoda.com, Booking.com, etc.

Myself I just go ask how much and can I see the room

Agoda has more offerings in se asia and asia
Booking.com more selections in Europe and the states

Many places, (over $10/night ) u'll get a better rate online than walk in

atst wrote:Myself I just go ask how much and can I see the room

Same. I've never used a booking site in Cambodia oddly enough. I just rock up. There are always plenty of places and always cheaper in person, but I can see why you'd want to book a higher end place out of town or something. I always use booking.com overseas. I used to use Agoda, but booking.com seems to have taken over. I just hate their bullshit "flash deal!" or "Member deal!" or whatever they call it. Always bullshit based on cookies and previous views.

I always use booking.com as I know their commission rates are a bit cheaper (15%, Agoda 20%) and I can also access a history of where I have stayed. This is useful if I want to return and can not remember the name of the hotel. I just stayed in a hotel in Phnom Penh at around $26 a day. The walk-in rate was $50. Similarly I enquired about a walk-in rate in Siem Reap and I was quoted something like $80 when the booking.com rate was around $40. I said to them that they did not have to pay commission on walk in and they get cash. It seems that many managers do not understand this. By the way both Booking.com and Agoda are the same company - just different brands.

samrong01 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 22, 2020 7:34 pm I always use booking.com as I know their commission rates are a bit cheaper (15%, Agoda 20%) and I can also access a history of where I have stayed. This is useful if I want to return and can not remember the name of the hotel. I just stayed in a hotel in Phnom Penh at around $26 a day. The walk-in rate was $50. Similarly I enquired about a walk-in rate in Siem Reap and I was quoted something like $80 when the booking.com rate was around $40. I said to them that they did not have to pay commission on walk in and they get cash. It seems that many managers do not understand this. By the way both Booking.com and Agoda are the same company - just different brands.

commissions vary from a low of 12% to 20% on both. The hotels choose which commissions they pay, the more commissions,the higher they rank on the website.

Both are NOT the same company, BUT are both owned by Booking Holdings Inc used to be named Priceline
they also own Kayak.com and rentalcars.com

I started and ran the affiliate program back in '99 for PlanetHoliday.com ( we ran it here on lovely Phuket island) which became PrecisionReservations.com which was later renamed agoda

I also prefer walk in and see any room first for under 20$, usually there is a reason why they are cheap. I can handle many of the "no have's" but not all of them like strange smells, dirty aircon (if any), extreme noise, drop only shower, dirty pillows (fuck my head`s on there) ...the list is growing with age. A walk in with roomcheck helps avoid this no-go's
When it comes to booking a nicer place I use the booking.yeah page as a reference and phone the hotel. NEVER try to get a good price talking with the receptionist (he usually has no decision making power anyway) but try to get over this "gatekeeper" and reach the person who is in charge of things (not always easy) . Ask for a rate thats 10% under the booking.yeah site (arguments are instant CASH and 5-10% more income than reservation is engine booked) and more often than not you will get it confirmed. If not accepted you have either talked to an idiot who does not care or waisted your time talking to staff with no decision making power.

If you google the name of your hotel the google search engine provides you with the online price from multiple different sites. Usually it is Agoda or Booking.com I end up using, but I have used other no-name sites that came up through google. When I used a no-name I called the hotel to also confirm they had my booking.

I had a couple experiences booking in person with opposite results. In Kep I wanted to extend our stay and the price from the front desk was much better than online. In Bangkok, also looking to extend and the front desk couldn't give me a price as low as online so I just used my phone to book in the hotel lobby and walked back up to the front desk with the confirm saving $40 per night.

I like the free cancellation hotels on agoda/booking as I can keep checking and if a better deal comes along just make a change.

I usually check the price and vacancies on booking.com then visit the hotel to look at the room.
if it looks OK, I ask the price and book with whoever has the lowest price. I don't like to book too many nights with booking.com in an unseen room in case the room is crap. Those room photographers are pretty good.